WFP And Mobile Marketing Firm BigTime Team Up Against Hunger Through Sms Fundraising

DUBAI – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) selects international mobile marketing firm BigTime to implement interactive SMS-based fundraising campaigns, with a primary focus on the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

BigTime provides services such as SMS-based quizzes to mobile operators, and customers who take part in the quizzes are entered into a raffle to win prizes. Through these campaigns, which would each last for three months, BigTime will help WFP raise substantial funds. Quiz-takers will also have the opportunity to learn more about WFP and other ways to engage in the fight against hunger.

“We continue to face new challenges and food crises as we reach out to vulnerable communities around the world,” said Ashraf Hamouda, WFP Head of Partnerships and Business Development for the MENA region, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “We look forward to this new venture with BigTime, which will position mobile phone technology as a catalyst for helping those in need.”

The partnership takes advantage of the relationship between mobile operators and their customers, allowing WFP to move further into the arena of mobile fundraising.

“BigTime has had a strong corporate social responsibility programme since the day of its inception and we have done some good work in supporting various non-profit efforts globally,” said Dimitris Papazisis, CEO of BigTime. “Today we are delighted to take our commitment a step further and leverage the power and impact of mobile marketing for a good cause. Being able to help the World Food Programme fight hunger and child malnutrition and enable poor people to access the food they need for a dignified life and a future justifies our efforts and overall existence in the industry.”

About the UN World Food Programme (WFP)

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. Each year, on average, WFP feeds more than 90 million people in more than 70 countries.

WFP now provides RSS feeds to help journalists keep up with the latest press releases, videos and photos as they are published on WFP.org. For more details see: http://www.wfp.org/rss

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WFP has a dedicated ISDN line in Italy for quality two-way interviews with WFP officials.

BigTime is a global provider of innovative ‘mobile marketing’ products and services. It is a niche company that creates entertaining and involving content targeted at mobile phone users that has been proven to create more revenue, attract more subscribers and promote loyalty to network operators. Detailed usage data is generated that helps operators to accurately quantify the effects of their mobile marketing campaigns and profile their customers. The result is users who get more out of their mobile phones - and operators who feel more in tune with their subscribers. Comprising top-notch industry professionals with the experience and insight required to devise mobile marketing programs that make a difference, BigTime supports mobile operators throughout the marketing lifecycle – from program design through implementation to campaign analysis.www.bigtimeprojects.com